Conserving water will help save Fraser salmon

For Immediate Release

VANCOUVER - To save millions of sockeye salmon from imminent death, municipalities and industry in the Fraser Basin are urged to conserve water as river temperatures continue to rise, says the David Suzuki Foundation.

In many Interior waterways, including the Thompson and Fraser rivers, water temperatures are near 20 degrees Celsius and river flows are 30 per cent below normal. Because of increased water temperatures, salmon expend more energy reaching spawning grounds upriver and are increasingly susceptible to disease and death.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the current sockeye salmon run is expected to die before it can spawn,” says Jay Ritchlin, marine strategist with the David Suzuki Foundation.

In the short-term, the Foundation recommends farmers in the Fraser basin irrigate their farmland during the evening, when temperatures are cooler and water is less likely to evaporate. As well, municipalities are urged to conserve water by restricting water usage to essential uses only.

Long-term, Mr. Ritchlin says we need to limit the factors that are driving global warming. Increased annual temperatures have led to early snow melting and subsequent low flow levels in the summer.

“Salmon are dying in the Fraser River because our pollution has changed the climate,” he says. “We now strongly encourage the government to develop short-term and long-term plans to keep the Fraser as cool as possible.”

For more information contact:
Jason Curran
Communications specialist
David Suzuki Foundation
604-732-4228, ext. 229